Specific Features of Ethnic Identity in the Regions with Varying Degrees

behavioral sciences Article Specific Features of Ethnic Identity in the Regions with Varying Degrees of Ethnic Diversity Olga Zotova *, Lyudmila Tarasova, Olga Solodukhina and Natal’ya Belousova Department of Social Psychology, Liberal Arts University (LAU)–University for Humanities, Surikova St 24a, Yekaterinburg 620144, Russia; [email protected] (L.T.); [email protected] (O.S.); [email protected] (N.B.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +7-9122-686-805 Received: 20 November 2019; Accepted: 22 December 2019; Published: 25 December 2019 Abstract: Ethnic diversity describes the plurality of ethnicities within a group of people coexisting in one territory. The permanent presence of other cultures’ representatives can trigger a sense of jeopardy; a feeling that the prevailing way of life, its norms, and its values are challenged by strangers, which results in hostility to ethnic minorities living in the same territory. In this context, the study aimed at investigating specific features of the individual’s ethnic identity determined by the degree of the ethnic diversity of their living environment is of relevance. In order to define regions for the study, the comparative analysis of the ethnic diversity of Russian regions was conducted. Two regions for the study were defined: the Sverdlovsk region as a territory with average ethnic diversity and the Republic of Bashkortostan as a highly diverse region in terms of ethnicity. The respondents from less ethno-diverse areas exhibit global self-identification, the awareness of being a part of the world, and territorial identity. Differences in the degree of sustainability and the intensity of ethnic self-identification of the subjects from regions with varying degrees of ethnic diversity were revealed. Significant distinctions in the meaning of ethnicity for the compared groups of the respondents were found. Keywords: ethnic identity; ethnic diversity; poly-ethnicity; tolerance 1. Introduction We are living in a world of a growing medley, not only in terms of measurable objects, forms, and peculiarities, but also from the perspective of social arrangement, imagination, thoughts, and constructions of reality. The complexity has become an inevitable paradigm for effective research focused on the interrelated socio-economic, biophysical, and political systems in time and space [1–3]. A great number of modern theories and conceptions explain the pros and cons of this diversity [4,5]. The theory of sociological systems [6], for example, implies that the strengthening of the differentiation in social systems increases their ability to adjust to future challenges, the diversity of social structures and organizations leads to an overall economic progress [7]. On the other hand, the increasing social assortment requires additional social mechanisms of control and management, allocation of resources, and conflict settlement. Objections and the dispute over what is good and right are inevitable in the contemporary academic community. Certainly, one can consider ethnic groups to be “imagined communities” while a nation is a product of peoples’ imagination and creativity [8]. However, despite the complexity and ambiguity of the definition of ethnic groups, research on this subject in terms of interrelations and dependencies on different socio-psychological phenomena is relevant and will remain so for decades to come. Even by knowing that belonging to a particular group is temporary, a person can include this element of self-knowledge in their actual identity more or less likely. The identity build-up based Behav. Sci. 2020, 10, 13; doi:10.3390/bs10010013 www.mdpi.com/journal/behavsci Behav. Sci. 2020, 10, 13 2 of 7 on a person’s identification with those groups the membership in which depends on one’s own will and desire leaves more flexibility for self-identification and, to a greater extent, makes the person their author. The ethnic diversity describes the plurality of ethnicities within a group of people coexisting in one territory. Ethnic groups can live together in a society or form cultural enclaves or “diasporas” within the territory of a receiving country. Ethnic diversity is often viewed as detrimental to social harmony and political stability. Governments in many countries have expressed concerns over ethnic diversity repeating their calls for national unity, assimilation of national minorities’ associations, and a reduced ethnic identity. Even gentle political actions are based on the purpose of sameness rather than a plurality of ethnic community, which is sometimes seen as backwards. Intensive cultural mobility and ethnicity mix make the problem of preserving ethnic identity even more acute [9] (p. 825). In many multinational societies, social and political differences and discrepancies are marked across cultural (ethnic, racial, or religious) borders. People use ethnic belonging as one of the most understandable and available forms of group solidarity and as an instrument for achieving various goals. That is why ethnicity acts as a source of unrest in the world where power, prosperity, and rank among and within countries are allocated illegally and unequally. How the host population perceives other nationals also depends on the cultural specificity of interethnic interaction. A permanent presence of other cultures’ representatives can trigger a sense of jeopardy; a feeling that the prevailing way of life, its norms and values are challenged by strangers [10,11], which results in hostility to ethnic minorities living in the same territory. In situations of conflict and confrontation, the choice of the migrants’ majority is to unite against a common threat from native citizens resulting in social segregation on grounds of ethnicity and risk of interethnic clashes [12] (p. 619). The challenges of globalization revealed the problem of interethnic interaction as a key factor of social stability and security. Under current changes, ethnic identity is not static, but a dynamic formation that does not remain unchanged throughout the person’s life span. Social interactions, conflicts in polyethnic environments can often result in rethinking the role of a person’s ethnicity and the transformation of his ethnic identity. Positive ethnic identity provides individuals with a sense of belonging, purpose, social support, and increased self-esteem [13]. This process can occur through attachment to one’s ethnic group in which beliefs and values are shared and reinforced by the group members [14]. Ethnic identity encourages sustainability, shapes pro-social styles of overcoming difficulties, and serves as a defense mechanism [15–21]. D.J. Brown, R.T. Cober, L.M. Keeping and P.E. Levy showed that from the perspective of ethnic diversity within an organization, racial tolerance is associated with such personal traits as openness to experience and self-esteem [22]. In living areas, ethnic boundaries are blurred due to social interactions with local people, which gradually results in accepting a host country’s culture. Ethnic minority in a region with a high density of another ethnos will have fewer stimuli for preserving their belonging, which, in turn, can enhance the process of the cultural integration. Earlier empirical data about the linkage between ethnic segregation and the formation of ethnic identity have yielded meager and mixed results. According to A. Bisin and his colleagues, the identity of ethnic minorities can be more intense in the mixed regions rather than in the segregated regions [23]. By contrast, H. Battu and Y. Zenou provide evidence that life in an ethnic enclave is associated with a very low level of identification and quite a strong affiliation with a particular ethnic group [24]. A.M. Danzer and F. Yaman state that in the regions with low ethnic diversity, the intensity of social interaction between ethnic minorities and the local population decreases [25]. Clearly, ethnicity shares many links with time, context, and a multitude of circumstances. People often appeal to it when they feel uncomfortable in the world around them, striving to find a way out of uncertainty by joining a community with distinct boundaries and the divide between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Behav. Sci. 2020, 10, 13 3 of 7 Thus, social interactions, for instance, conflicts within a polyethnic environment and can cause us to rethink the role of ethnic belonging and ethnic identity transformation. These problems are especially acute for representatives of ethnic, religious, and cultural minorities living in a “big ethnic culture”. These issues require the development of mechanisms of interethnic harmony in the society. In this context, the study aimed at investigating specific features of the individual’s ethnic identity determined by the degree of the ethnic diversity of their living environment is of relevance. 2. Materials and Methods To define regions for the study, the comparative analysis of ethnic diversity of the Russian regions was conducted. The officially published statistical data were used in the analysis. The considered indicators included figures of the population by nationality in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, i.e., a criterion of ethnic diversity was people belonging to ethnic groups. To quantify ethnic diversity, we used the Simpson diversity index applied to measure biodiversity. In the given study, it allowed us to assess a degree of possibility that two randomly selected representatives of the region will belong to two different ethnicities. Eighty-five regions of the Russian Federation were

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